Hampton calls police suits meritless

Hampton officials said they plan to strongly contest two federal lawsuits asserting that Hampton police conducted improper searches of citizens during two traffic stops in 2007 and 2008.

In an interview last week, City Attorney Cynthia Hudson and Deputy City Manager Mary Bunting said the suits - filed in U.S. District Court by a former Newport News Circuit Court judge - are baseless.

"We will absolutely defend these cases vigorously," Hudson said. "We have no reason to believe there's any merit to them. We have no reason to believe the officers have conducted themselves unlawfully or violated anyone's civil rights." Hudson also said there are some basic errors in the suits, including that one of the named defendants - Officer Kathleen M. Moffat - was not working the night a search took place in December 2008.

Bunting, who oversees the police force as part of her duties, voiced confidence in the city's police force and Police Chief Charles R. Jordan Jr. The chief is named as a defendant in both cases, accused of creating an atmosphere allowing improper conduct to take place.

"We have a very well-run police department," Bunting said. "The public should have faith that the police department is not operating in the way these complaints suggest."

The department, she said, takes complaints against officers seriously and is quick to weed out officers acting improperly. It's also accredited by a national accrediting agency - one of only 26 departments in Virginia to hold that rating, Bunting said.

In June, Hampton attorney Verbena M. Askew, who once sat on Newport News' Circuit Court, sued Hampton for $66 million on behalf of Kirby Johnson for a June 2007 traffic stop. Johnson, 21, says a hard metal object was shoved up his rectum as he stood on the side of the road.

A trial date is scheduled to begin in February.

In August, Askew filed a second suit on behalf of Amy Williamson and Mark Kendall, asking for $8.75 million. The couple alleges their rights were violated in a December 2008 traffic stop in which they said police searched the woman's undergarments and ordered the man to take off his shoes and spread his legs.

They assert there was no legal basis for officers to search their car with a K-9. The suit says that when a man asked why they were being searched, a female officer replied, "Because I can."

In an interview Wednesday, Askew said she still stands by both cases.

"The city doesn't want to acknowledge this is happening," she said. "But I get calls every week from people saying the same kinds of things are happening to them. The city has an obligation to protect the people from (police) misconduct, and they're not doing that."

Askew, who said she's had to fight all along for information from the city, said she was notified Wednesday that Moffat was not the officer on the scene. "I didn't make that up," she said. "A police officer gave me the name. I am writing them back to say, 'Thank you, and would you please tell me who the right officer is, so that I can amend the complaint.' "

IN THEIR WORDS

* "We will absolutely defend these cases vigorously. We have no reason to believe there's any merit to them."

- Hampton City Attorney

Cynthia Hudson

* "The city doesn't want to acknowledge this is happening. But I get calls every week from people saying the same kinds of things are happening to them. - Hampton attorney